How updates on Houston Astros players will tilt the competitive landscape

How updates on Houston Astros players will tilt the competitive landscape

Charlie with with all the positive updates that we’ve been getting on Luis Garcia’s progress there had been a susic suspicious amount or lack thereof of uh of updates regarding Lance mccullers’s we finally got an update this week and it was not good uh McCullers has been shut down from pitching according to Joe asata after his arm reportedly didn’t respond well to Bullpen sessions the team is now formulating a plan for what’s next I look I don’t want to be hyper negative his deal runs through 2026 uh in your gut Charlie do do you feel like Lance will ever be able to make make it back and pitch for the Astros at this point I seriously doubt it meaningfully does he make it back to the mound at some point that is now iffy and no one should be you know down on Lance McCullers not as if he blew off reab and packed on the weight and all he’s been doing is pouring coffee the the last year and a half but clearly his arm is is not up to it the contract extension was foolish but the Astros gave him the five years $85 million um and you know here we are he made eight starts and then the postseason this will probably wind up being two full seasons where he doesn’t pitch two years more at 17 million per remaining on the contract you know except that McCullers was on a team that won the World Series in 2022 it’s a worse deal than a brus deal so it’s a bummer from the colors other than that the 401K set up very nicely and the the kids college funds are all taken care of um but you know that they’re mapping out a plan I mean whatever uh it’s about LS Garcia if the from the injured list the the Astros are going to get any sort of even short Innings contribution uh the rest of the way um but it it if not flat out likely it’s at least an even proposition that right now we can bury last mallers his career in the age from one injury update to another Dana Brown says he expects as we discussed you know Justin Verlander to return sometime after the All-Star break uh Brown says he expects Luis Garcia to be able to return and be at least 90% of his former self for this season Charlie you know I don’t know where Verlander at in the the recovery process it’s it’s kind of a mystery at this point but if presuming you can get Verlander back and you get a as Dana Brown projects a 90% version of Luis Garcia how much does that help alleviate some of the pains the Astros are feeling in their starting rotation well for all we know Dana Brown uses a Ouija board to to make his forecasts Verlander is is the critical one uh ronell Blanco continues to pitch well he’s dipped some but it’s not like he started getting hammered starts a start but as he Bears down on his prior career professional Innings high of 125 he’s going to get there within the next month and then there’s going to be another month and a half a season still after that uh that’s a cross your fingers uh Hunter Brown was almost D for a cluck ER certainly had it in Minnesota uh I frankly thought it was shortsighted to have him take one for the team and stay in there and gut it out to his credit he did that with throwing 105 pitches when Hunter Brown is on course to again blow through his career professional high as he did last season but those are the onew in the Astros rotation Robert Valdez continues to be two big Innings uh prone uh but overall does consume Innings and is a credible at least number three starter after that it’s winging a prayer time which is why Verlander who’s done as an ace as a seven Innings as oftenest not type guy as a low twos or high ones ER guy the book’s closed he’s 41 years old he’s had now several different injuries over the last year and a half but to be back and be competent five or six inning starter for even 10 more starts the rest of the way would be so valuable for this rotation because spener arti maybe gets there and two months ago who would have thought Hunter Brown would be where he is now but they’re really really no signs of any consistency of command from arti you know he mixes one real good start in every three or four well not capable pitchers can do that the majority of the starts the command is poor he doesn’t get you out of the fourth or or fifth inning he’s only in this rotation because of all the injuries right Jake Bloss one start gets injured during an ineffective outing and he’s being if not rushed back at least brought back right after rehab because they they have nothing else right already multiple Bullpen games with with Shawn Dubin starting so Verlander add to add just another solid not special but solid guide of that rotation uh would be a a vital addition and you look at the steadiness of the Mariners rotation and the Rangers have Sherer back and they’re hoping to fortify as well this is a this is a three- team Race now um and Luis Garcia you know Dana Brown saying 90% he just gu you know 90% of his quality before he went down let’s remember Luis Garcia was a high threes ER guy so you know 90% of that would be okay but it’s not like you’re adding a number one or two starter to your rotation so I mean there’s just so much up in the air which I think all funnels into with now not quite three weeks to the trade deadline Dana Brown should be pedal to the metal trying to add a starting pitcher the top of Market guys that the White Soxs trade Garett crochet yeah can get out be by a number of other teams but if enough other guys move Eric fety with the White Sox Cal quantro with the Rockies to name too right the Astros farm system is weak and they don’t have the prospects to bid against the Orioles or the Dodgers if they jump in on the same guide I mean they could still come in over the top on the the second or third tier starters who are on the market but that the Astros don’t have a top 50 Prospect or top 75 Prospect to put in the deal probably not going to be the price for these guys right they’re not Justin Verlander or Zack grank type trade deadline Acquisitions at least the Astros can try for Dana Brown absolutely should be tried for one of those because to count on Luis Garcia being 90% of what he was right Justin Verlander shrouded in mystery yeah don’t ask me about my injury ask the doctors you’re not allowed to ask the doctors um and along with the possibility that Blanco Brown wear down if not out down the stretch uh it’s not absolutely essential that Dana Brown doesn’t add a starting piture the Astros are doomed go want a winning the division if he makes no moves but if Dana Brown doesn’t add a starting pitcher on that specific Criterion I think he’ll have failed as the general manager yeah it’s gonna be interesting to see how that works out because you know once you get to the playoffs with the the you know the shorten series and in the first rounds you know should they make the playoffs but you know you have that shorter Series in the first round you don’t need as many starters and then you know as series lengthen there’s more days off so maybe you can get by with fewer starters but you’re right with the amount of innings that these starters are eating right now it is it’s certainly not a sure thing that you’re going to be able to even identify three solid starters to be able to get you through in the postseason but first things first you have to get to the regular season you mentioned Hunter Brown eating those innings in his last start essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul Paul being the bullpen in this scenario let’s talk about the bullpen because Josh hater has already given up more home runs in the first week of July than he did in the entire month of June hater is 15 of 16 converted saves but saves are a funny thing because you can come in and give up a grand slam and still be awarded with one um this has Houston fans understandably a little uneasy about Josh hater and and his contract Charlie I I want to talk I want say ask you is in your opinion do you consider Josh hater a lockdown closer and if not if that’s not the case then should the Astros have ponied up $95 million for a fiveyear deal for him no the contract was ridiculous uh whether they were starting to feel a little bit desperate and let’s make a splash and lavish the richest in real dollars contract right Edwin Diaz is with the Mets how’s that going so far uh New York taxes and so forth haters and real dollars in Texas actually more valuable the the DSes uh five years for a 30y old closer hey in a vacuum it was a great Edition right Lefty to the bullpen team him up with Presley Abu but viewed narrowly hey adding Josh haer why not but if it’s going to have Pall ramifications Elsewhere on your roster not just just this year but over the next four years that was one reason that it was eyebrow raising secondly it is a myth that Josh haer has been a year in year out lock down closer his career is not Billy Wagner 2.0 Josh hater’s basically been every other year more the profile of you know the middle relever setup guys that the variability season to season uh Mama gup in the box of chocolates you never know what you’re going to get well Josh hater’s case let’s work backwards 2024 he’s been mediocre you mentioned the save percentage you come into a 52 game and don’t blow it in the ninth inning you get credit for a save you mentioned the Grand Slam he gave up to KARE and then get an out that’s a save all Florida Tuesday night that was a one-run mans span save granted against the triaa lineup but that was a real save situation see um hater had Home Run problems in his career 2019 he gave up 15 in 75 Innings but I said working backwards this year he’s been mediocre 2023 was awesome 122 earned run average 2021 his the was 522 struggled with Milwaukee then when delt to San Diego he was abismal with the Padres uh in 2020 he was not very good in the shorten season ER I want to say 379 2021 he was great ra at once so he has not been year in year out fantastic he last had an ER below 379 in consecutive seasons in 2018 and 2019 I believe we’re five years past 2019 and he has work to do to get his ra below 379 so no Josh ay is not on a closer Hall of Fame track you he’s not this much behind with Mariana rera was or Billy Wagner who finally should get into the Hall of Fame next year but he was a good acquisition dot dot dot but at five years 95 million and that he was going to be automatically Lights Out All Season the track record bed that I I found it amusing that after hater gave up the walk-off to is I saw some asers fans on X saying oh man sure wish we had a closer like from back in the day like Brad Li which is very ironic considering how Li’s time ended in Houston I’ll leave it at that that’s GNA be it for this episode of St cultur if you listen on podcast you enjoy the show please be sure to give us a fivar rating Charlie Josh and I will catch you next week uh and if you want to catch I don’t know if we’re going to be doing any uh bonus content during the week just because of what’s going on here in Houston but we still encourage you to subscribe to sports map Houston and sports map Texans on YouTube we will try to get some more content out for you if nothing else you should be subscribing to sports map Texans on YouTube because we will be ramping up the Texans ontap podcast very soon ahead of the Texans 2024 season uh and so uh until then we’ll catch you on this show on Stone Cold stros next week thanks for listening until next time ghost Rose [Music] oh

#astros #stonecoldstros #sportsmaphou

For the full audio podcast:

Amazon:
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/289448a4-0c83-4aeb-8bac-30df7466eca2

Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stone-cold-stros/id1658116385?uo=4

Google:
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzUwOTMyMDUucnNz?sa=X&ved=0CAIQ9sEGahcKEwiAwtT1xfz7AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQMw

iHeart:

Spotify:

Follow Charlie Pallilo on Twitter:
Tweets by Pallilo

Follow Josh on Twitter:
Tweets by JoshJordan975

Follow SportsMap HOU on TikTok:

@sportsmaphou

Follow SportsMap HOU on Twitter:
Tweets by sportsmaphou

Follow SportsMap HOU on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/sportsmaphou/

Follow SportsMap HOU on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sportsmaphou/